Way of the Dawn in Time
by Promise
Summary: Time is just a string, and that string loops back forward upon it’s self. When it does, the doors are open for Sora to travel back in time and save his best friend and himself. SoraXRiku, SoraXLeon and more.
1. Chapter 1 Muse in the Night

Way of the Dawn in Time

Written by Promise

No copyright infringement intended

Chapter 1-Muse in the Night

He was awake again. Just as he would start to slip in to slumber he would startle awake. His mind racing… refusing to slow down and let him get some rest. Sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he ran calicle warn hands through his spiky brown hair.

Tired eyes peered though the dark at the electronic clock; glowing red numbers blaring 2:41 A.M. Well at least he had been asleep a full 30 minutes that time. Sighing, his eyes fell upon the picture next to the clock. It had been taken some time ago, maybe a good 5 or 6 years. He looked around 17 in the picture, but it was hard to tell seeing as he matured somewhat slowly for a boy his age. Physically anyways, mentally he was probably more mature then Cloud was at that age. Blinking he focused on the other occupants of the photograph; a loud mouthed duck named Donald, and an odd ball dog named Goofy. They all looked so happy there; he wondered if it was just a mask back then, as it was now.

Shaking his head, he stood up not caring as the blankets fell down to the floor, pooling at his feet. Quietly he made his way into the small kitchen and opened the refrigerator, wincing at the sudden light that flooded the small room. Frowning he pulled out the empty milk carton out and tossed it in the trash. Grabbing a glass he poured some tap water and hopped up on to the counter, opposite the fridge.

Not really drinking the light brown colored water, Sora began to roll over the thoughts that had been tormenting him so much to keep him awake. He didn't want to be thinking about this but it seems he had little choice in the matter.

Taking a sip of water he promptly spit it back out in disgust, spraying the fridge in the distasteful liquid. Wiping his mouth he hopped down off the counter and reached for a towel. Wiping off the fridge, negatives from a camera fluttered down off the top. They came to rest on the ground, a dull splash of moonlight making them almost shimmer. Frowning he reached down and picked them up, glancing over them with mild interest. How long had these been up there? Looking over the last strip one picture in particular caught his eye; it was a picture of _The Great Ex-General Sephiroth_. His brows knitting together as he looked closer at the negative picture in his hands.

Sephiroth, this was his fault. The reason he couldn't sleep. Sephiroth had asked something of him he wasn't sure he could do. Something he wasn't sure he wanted to do. Something he didn't even know _how_ to do...

What was it about this picture that seemed so…familiar yet different at the same time?

Tilting the photo in his hands and watching as the moonlight played on it, and then something hit him. The image of the Ex-General looked so different, because as a negative image it _did_ look different, but not wrong. It was more like this was what the actual photo was supposed to look like… The shadows of the room reflecting behind it, he frowned at the sight of Sephiroth with black hair… black hair… black… hair…

Eyes widening, the pictures fell to the floor because of his slackened grip on them. It looked like Sephiroth's request wasn't as impossible as he had imaged. He also now knew what it meant by him taking this chance. It was him that was going to be the one who first lead the Heartless to Destiny Islands. All for the sake of saving his best friend and killing himself…


	2. Chapter 2 Like an Angel

Way of the Dawn in Time

Chapter 2

Like an Angel

It was raining today, and it fit his mood perfectly. Put bluntly, he felt like crap. Glaring out at the rain splattered side window, he played absentmindedly with his poupu fruit key chain. Wishing that by some miracle his back would stop hurting like it was.

"You know sweetie, you don't have to go to school today. You can always come to work with me." His mother offered, noting the sadness that seemed to surround her only son.

Glancing at him she took in his profile, a small but sad smile gracing her pink lips. He had chin length raven black hair, and piercing teal green eyes. He was athletically built and had an unusually light colored tan for someone who's grown up on the islands all his life. He was wearing a black sleeveless turtleneck and dark jeans. A black jean trench coat that his father left behind, kept him warm in the rainy season. Though he had just grown into it a few summers ago and she still had to hem the bottom of it.

When he didn't answerer she called him again, "Riku, Hun? You going to be ok?"

Turning his head he smiled reassuringly at her, a simple softness in his eyes, "Yeah, I'll be fine, Mom." and then turned back to his window.

Shaking her head and looking back to the road, she thought about how much Riku was like his father…intelligent, handsome and stubborn to boot. She had done well by naming him after his father. Riku Sr. would be proud of him if he were still here.

Turning into the school parking lot she stopped and let him out. "Have a good day Hun."

"I will, thanks." Grabbing his bag, he closed the door and quickly made his way to the main building. Cursing under his breath as he stepped through the double doors, Riku shook out his hair and swung his bag over one shoulder. Trying not to wince as it hit a sore spot. This was going to be a long day.

Looking around he spotted his best friend, Sora and the new girl Kairi talking at their usual table. Pushing past the crowd and saying hello to a few friends along the way he eventually got to Sora.

Heaving an exasperated sigh he tossed his bag down and dramatically collapsed down into the seat next to the red haired girl. Sora laughed at his antics while Kairi giggled softly. Ah, the things he did for the entertainment of his friends. The truth of the mater was he was as exhausted as he was letting on, but if it earned a laugh from these two it was worth letting his mask slip for a few seconds.

Sitting up fully, he looked up at the two and gave his classic trademark smirk. And so the school day started with its usual course. Riku went to his morning classes with only minor irritations to his back and not much improvement to his mood. Then he had P.E. to go to.

Groaning Riku pushed open the heavy door to the boy's locker room, pushing past a few younger classmen to get to his locker. Dropping his bag and spinning his locker combination as he thought about how he might get out of Blitz Ball practice for the day. Normally he would never dream of such an act but he was thinking he was going to be in a world of hurt if he went through with practice.

Pulling out his cloths he started to strip gasping in surprise and a little pain as he suddenly felt a hand glide down his back. Turning he came face to face with his best friend, Sora, his brows creased in worry.

"Riku, what happened to your back?" Sora's bright eyes were wide and slightly dark with his obvious concern.

Shaking his head Riku replied, "I'm not sure, I just know it hurts."

Frowning Sora turned him around so he could look at his friends back again, carefully tracing two thick parallel lines that ran from his shoulder blades to the small of his back. "The skin is all red and it's bruised in a few spots," He gently touched one of Riku's shoulder blades, frowning even more when Riku flinched under such a light touch. "The skin it also peeling too, you need to go see the nurse, Riku."

Shaking his head Riku gingerly pulled on his P.E. shirt then changed into his pants before he gave a verbal response. "Sora if I do that she won't be able to do anything for me so she'll call my mom. And then Mom will have to come all the way from work to get me and take me home." Looking up ocean green met sky blue, "You know I won't do that to my mom. Not over a little backache anyways. I probably hurt it when we were sparing the other day. Remember when I fell off the tower? That's probably when I hurt it."

Looking away Riku busied himself with putting his stuff back into his locker and locking it. Sora watched him for a few moments before thinking it better to let it drop. Riku was his best friend, he knew him better than anyone. Riku was always trying to be as of much help to his mom as possible. Ever since his dad disappeared when he was 4, Riku had done his best to keep his mom happy, even if it was at his own expense.

Putting on a smile Sora slung an arm around Riku's shoulders and walked with him out the door to go meet up with their instructor. Sora would just have to keep an eye out for him. He would find out what was wrong with his favorite raven-haired friend, sooner or later…

P.E went by relatively fast, Riku only getting hit in the back once with the ball. Riku promptly beat the crap out of Wakka for it as well. Jecht, the instructor, had to pull him off the poor boy. So, Riku had to spend half the period in the penalty box and he was fine with that. It meant the less chance of him hurting his back any more.

Sora caught up with him as he was walking out of the locker room, and to Riku's surprise didn't bring up how he had to sit out. Instead he started talking about the new girl Kairi. This was Riku's cue to zone out.

Riku was beginning to think he'd never understand it. Ever since the amber haired girl first appeared on the islands Sora had this fascination of her, and it drove him nuts! Honestly, he got along fine with the girl; she was even considered a close friend to him. But when Sora started talking about her Riku tended to get edgy.

He wasn't stupid; he figured that Sora probably had a crush on the sweet girl, which was reasonable. But he knew for a fact the he wasn't jealous that his best friend was crushing on her. In the sense that he might like her or his best friend's attention was being stolen from him. It was something different, and beyond his current understanding. Hey he was only fourteen, what could anyone really expect out of him?

Lunch was spent talking about random things and the usual conversations. Sora giving a very detailed and over exaggerated retelling of how he single-handedly won the Blitz Ball match. Wakka also adding in a gripe about Riku's aggressive attack on him, Riku just responded with a classic grin.

Then it's off to English, this being the only class that Riku didn't have with either Sora or Kairi. Riku mildly noticed the beginning of a headache, but thought nothing of it. Pulling out his notebook once he sat down, he started taking notes that the teacher was writing on the board. He then started to note the two black dotes in the sides of his vision.

Half way into class he was felling like he was in hell. Half moons of swirling black were slowly creeping into his preverbal vision in both eyes. Shutting them tightly and taking in a shuttering breath Riku raise his hand to get the teachers attention. The black curtain of his eyelids did little to nothing to block out the carnival lights that were slowly making themselves known to him. What was going on? What was happening to him?

"Is there something you need, Riku?" The teacher asked while moving over to his desk.

"I need to go to the nurse." When the teacher didn't make any response Riku forced his eyes open and looked up at her with his swirling vision, frowning in confusion when the teacher let out a small gasp.

Hastily the teacher pulled Riku to his feet and directed him to the back classroom door. Helping him as best as he would allow. Shutting his eyes again Riku clutched his head with one hand and felt his way along the wall with the other, distantly hearing the teacher calling over two other students to help assist him to the nurse's office.

A sharp pain shot thought Riku's skull and he had to press his lips to keep from crying out. He wouldn't cry out, he wouldn't cry out. Stopping about half way from the door Riku tried to get a hold of himself. Desks not two feet from him started vibrating and shaking, causing students to jump up out of them in surprise. As Riku took another step the desks made a slight jump and a filing cabinet and bookshelf across the room started quaking as well.

A small gasp escaped his lips as another sharp, exploding pain, ripped through his brain. If not for two sets of hands taking a hold of each of his arms and purposely moving him towards the door he would have fallen. With each step he took, objects around the room started moving, seemingly on their own accord.

Just as they reached the door Riku let out a pain filed cry and the two students that had been helping him were thrown back with such a force that they flew half way across the room. At that same time the now empty desks in the room jumped about a foot into the air, dropping back down with a loud bang that seemed to shake the walls.

Riku cringed in agony and for one brief moment everything calmed, the only thing out of place was the panic that had quickly risen in the other students. Then Riku snapped his eyes open as all the desks rose in the air as one and hurtled toward him. Someone let out a scream just as the heavy objects seemed in range to collide with him.

But they had all stilled, frozen in mid air and appearing as an ominous wall made of wood and steel. Then for the second time in the last few moments' gravity pulled them down to the floor with a teeth-rattling BANG. The noise left the students covering their ears as it reverberated off the walls.

Standing before Riku now was a man with dark sky blue eyes and dark brown hair. His arms were thrown out to the sides defending the boy behind him, his eyes cold in a silent fury. Behind him Riku let out a pain filled whimper, drawing back the attention of the rest of the class. Surprised whispers passed over the small crowd as they now looked down upon their classmate.

His appearance had changed dramatically and he twitched convulsively in pain. His hair was almost completely gray in color and most shocking of all was what had sprouted from his back. Two feathery wings of the deepest black coated in crimson blood. Silently the brunette bent down and scooped up the teen with the greatest of care; avoiding the wings that hung limply from his back, dripping small droplets of blood on the tile floor.

He kicked open the door and left the class behind in shock and awe, but that didn't matter. Right now the only thing the brunette cared about was getting Riku on his ship as quickly as possible…


End file.
